The Yo-Yo IR1 was performed on court with HR being continuously recorded (RS800, Polar Electro Oy, Finland). This incremental test consists of repeated 20 m running bouts with changes of direction, interspersed with 10-s rest periods [5]. Immediately after exhaustion, earlobe blood samples (25 µl) were obtained from each player. Each sample was transferred to Eppendorf tubes containing 50 µl of NaF [1%] and subsequently analyzed for determination of final blood lactate [LA] with an electroenzymatic analyzer (YSI 2700, Yellow Springs, USA). Total distance (m) and the maximum HR (HRmax) recorded during this test were retained for further analyses